TH350 park pawl visable the the pan pulled?

[y5mgisi]

I have a th350 in my suburban and park does'nt work very good on it. Even on slight inclines it has a tendancy to "ratchet" and not hold park very well. Up on the column it feels like it hits park right. So im thinking of pulling the pan to see if i can see if the pawl it selft is damaged or if its not getting pushed far enough in. So can i see the pawl by just taking the pan down? I have been in and rebuilt a few th350's in the past but that was several years ago and i cant quite remember what it looks like with the pan off.

 

[toomany]

Before you go through that, I'd try adjusting the shift linkage. There is a sliding collar on the rod comming off of the column. Put the column in neutral, crawl under (block the wheels first) and loosen the jam bolt, then shift the trans into neutral and tighten down the bolt. You could also try this with park. There is also a chance for slop/wear to develop at the arm comming off the coulmn that connects to the linkage going to the trans. I've put a rubber bushing into these before and that helped allot.

 

[y5mgisi]

Ok i will certainly check that out first. The reason i had been asuming that adjustment was ok is that i know there is no real detent in the coloumn. The only real detents are in the trans. But i will go ahead and check that out to make sure it is getting pulled all the way up.

 

[kevin400ex]

when you pull the pan you can see the roid that acutates the pawl. i dont recall if its adjustable internally. ill dig thru my trans parts and see if i have a rod assembly.

 

[y5mgisi]

Cool deal man thanks! I dont belive the rod that actuates the pawl is adjustable IIRC. It is spring loaded though i think so it could be that the spring is broken i suppose.

 

[y5mgisi]

Turns out it is pretty well visible just with the pan off. I eneded up having to replace the park pawl. It was pretty well rounded off. Park works great now! Thanks!